The week before break. Nothing prepares you for the week before a break. Not your graduate or undergraduate courses, not attending in-service learning, nor engaging in webinars. You run on adrenaline, navigating in and out of exhaustion, trying your best
Read MoreFriends Don’t Let Friends Commit Educational Malpractice
My former assistant principal and all-around amazing human being, Molly Garcia, taught me about the importance of teachers undertaking a deep dive into brain research and why teachers need to understand how the brain learns. She taught me that if
Read MoreWhere are the Teachers?
This was going to be the year: the year where classrooms were going to be filled with certified teachers. Arizona, like many states across the country, relies on alternative certification allowing for teachers to earn their credentials while teaching. These
Read MoreUsing My Teacher Voice
Last year I participated in our statewide teacher walkout. This experience changed my perspective in a myriad of ways. Marching to the capitol with thousands of teachers, administrators, parents, students, and supporters is one of the most memorable moments of
Read MoreRedirecting Applause
No one will ever describe me as humble. Ever. Like Lady Gaga, I live for “the applause, applause, applause. I live for the applause-plause, live for the applause-plause!” With that said, I one time misspelled “ego” in my school’s spelling
Read MoreNoisy Trees
I’ve always been obsessed with Aspen trees. When I was younger,they were the “noisy trees” because of the way the wind rattled off of the leaves. When I was in college at NAU, my only science class was an Environmental
Read MoreSupporting Students With Behavioral Challenges
“If a child doesn’t know how to read, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to write a complete sentence, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to multiply, we teach. If a child doesn’t know how to
Read MoreThe Educated Voter…Midterm Elections 11/6/18
One lesson that I think all educators across the valley can agree with is that it is critical for us to stay informed and involved in our legislative process. I think we also learned that in order to do this,
Read MorePhysics and Public Policy – Our Brief Story
In 2016 a small band of physics teachers got together to address the problem of a rapidly dwindling supply of qualified physics teachers in the state of Arizona. This team took it upon themselves to go straight to the capitol
Read MoreHistory Has Its Eyes on You
This is part one of a two-part series of blogs written by Susan Collins and me. I met Susan through the Arizona National Board Teachers Network shortly after she’d moved from Mississippi to Kingman, Arizona. We bonded over the
Read More